Expressões de resiliência oculta em adolescentes vítimas de exploração sexual

Abstract

Given the complexity of the phenomenon of sexual exploitation of children and adolescents, it is important that the different sciences engage in confronting and understanding the mechanisms that support the perpetuation of this practice. Similarly, investment by the scientific community is deemed necessary in relation to the identification of protective factors and resilience processes present in the lives of victims subjected to the exploitative and degrading market of the sex industry. This research started from the hypothesis that adolescents in situations of sexual exploitation, because they do not access efficient programs and because they come from extremely adverse contexts, may resort to sexual exploitation as a strategy to ensure mental health and personal positivity. In other words, because they are in a condition of subordination and social abandonment, they extract social and psychological resources from sexual exploitation to trigger unconventional resilience processes. Based on these arguments, the general objective of this study was to verify the manifestation of processes of hidden resilience with adolescents with a history of involvement in situations of sexual exploitation. The research was qualitative, in a transversal period and from the multiple case study modality. The fieldwork was carried out with two female adolescents who were victims of sexual exploitation, as well as two professionals who attended to them in medium and high complexity services of the Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS). Two semi-structured interview scripts were used. All dialogues that emerged in the field work were recorded on a digital device and subsequently submitted to the transcription process in full. Data interpretation took place through content analysis. The data obtained were divided into four categories, namely: Relationship with the Mother”, “Affective-Sexual Dimension and Corporeality”, “Substance Abuse and Chemical Dependence” and “Repercussions of Sexual Exploitation and Social Vulnerability on Mental Health”. Such categories refuted the initial hypotheses of the investigation. In summary, it was not evidenced in the data that the adolescents extracted resources that favored development from sexual exploitation. On the contrary, the research revealed exposure to numerous risk factors associated with sexual exploitation, and their recruitment into this exploratory network intensified the participants' vulnerability and, in a way, affected the adolescents' mental health. This report presents the main implications of the empirical study, describes the limitations and points to new investigative questions that may arise from the present study.